Ricarda Böhm defends her doctoral dissertation

On the 12th of March 2015 Ricarda Böhm successfully defended her doctoral dissertation entitled “Tannin and hydroxypropylated tannin as bio-based building blocks for rigid foams, wood adhesives and polyurethane thermosetting plastics”.

Supported by the Wood Wisdom-Era-Net Project BioFoamBark, Ricarda explored several material options for turning renewable bark extracts into bio-based polymers capable of resplacing commercial petroleum-based foams and adhesives. Ricarda is the first doctoral student from the Chair of Forest Biomaterials to receive her degree from the Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy thanks to ongoing collaborations in this faculty with Prof. Friedrich.

The research contribution of Ricarda was recognized by industry in 2013 when together with 2 other PhD students active in BioFoamBark, she received the “ Innovationspreis Schaumstoffe 2013“ from the german “ Fachverband Schaumkunststoffe und Polyurethane e.V.” With this connection to industry early on in her work and interest for applied research, Dr. Böhm welcomed a research position at Flint Group Germany GmbH.